Dumb Syrian army using tanks (T-72s) in an urban environment. Some getting smoked by rebel RPGs and ATMs. The best one is a ATM lighting up a tank, blowing the driver/gunner out of the hatch while the ammo cooks off. Pretty bad arse. The dude gets up(looks like charcoal)and runs away with rounds going off around him

Thanks. I figured that was what they would be using in the video. They've got a few hundred of these. The export version of these things that the Soviets sold on the world market is absolute shite. The optics really limit their range and in tanks that is the difference between being the hunter or the hunted. On top of this the ammo they get with them is really horrible with little pen power against Western tanks. The Soviets home version was much better and has been upgraded over the years. It's still a shitty tank though. If we'd have ever met them in Central Europe like everyone expcted in the Cold War days we'd have ripped them a new a-hole.

I'm guessing the rebels don't have western tanks (or any tanks for that matter) though so they're probably plenty scared of them.

quote:Did that guy running away get blown out of the tank? or was he just nearby?

I can't pull up the video but I have seen someone blown out of the hatch of a tank. He did not get up and run though due to the fact that it was only his upper torso that was actually ejected. Never did see his lower half. I guess it was incinerated inside the tank.

If he was inside the tank when it "brewed up" then it's nothing short of a miracle he's alive. Unlike what we had on the M1A1's, the crew of a T72 is highly exposed to the ammo. When stored ammo in a T72 starts cooking off there are usually not only no survivors left, there not even remains to collect.

quote:The explosion set off the shell already loaded into the breech of the main gun. The gunner survived the hit and opened his hatch, releasing a column of grey smoke. As the air rushed in, the fuel from the punctured floor tank ignited, sending a massive column of flame upward. The rush of flame ejected the gunner, who landed in the street, got up, and ran away. His jacket had been blown up over his head and his pants were shredded. He may have been severely burned, or he may have been relatively uninjured if he was wearing body armor and flame-resistant clothing. At any rate, such a miraculous escape may never before have been caught on film.

quote:There is another video of that hit. It shows in slow motion an Anti tank missile hitting it from behind. I'll see if I can find it

Does the turret blow off? The T-72 tends to blow it's turret when hit due to the way the ammo is stored. It's in a carousel directly under the turret down in the bottom of the hull with the projectiles pointing inward. Once they start going off they literally blow the turret in the air and basically obliterate the tank and anyone inside. .

quote:The explosion set off the shell already loaded into the breech of the main gun. The gunner survived the hit and opened his hatch, releasing a column of grey smoke. As the air rushed in, the fuel from the punctured floor tank ignited, sending a massive column of flame upward. The rush of flame ejected the gunner, who landed in the street, got up, and ran away. His jacket had been blown up over his head and his pants were shredded. He may have been severely burned, or he may have been relatively uninjured if he was wearing body armor and flame-resistant clothing. At any rate, such a miraculous escape may never before have been caught on film.

I've never heard of anyone surviving such and I've seen tanks "brew up" with my own eyes.

Also, what idiot loader would put a main gun round in the gun without closing the breach?!?!

ETA: Don't know what I was thinking here. The T72 does not have a human loader. Instead it has a auto loader system. The round that cooked was probably the one in the ready rack of the auto loader. This is one of the biggest weaknesses of the T72. On top of being slower than a human loader, the auto loader means there is almost always an exposed round right there with the crew. It also does not allow for a quick change in type of ammo being fired. For example if the next few rounds in the auto loader's carousel are HEAT but you've got a main battle tank to your front, you've got to fire all those HEAT rounds before you can get to a sabot round.